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DIY Halloween Costumes for Kids

Don't be scared of high costume prices this Halloween. With a little creativity and our experts' DIY tips, you can save money and still have fun with your kids.

Find Monsters in Your Closet

Our experts recommend looking in your closet for ideas. "There are so many things you can come up with without spending any money," says Kim Danger, founder of MommySavers.com and mother of two. "Look at what your kids enjoy doing and go from there."

Here are some ideas that Danger has used in the past:

Danger's son was interested in hunting and fishing, and had lots of camouflage pants. So she used the clothes and props he already had to turn him into a hunter. Cost: Free.

For her daughter, Danger put together a robe and facial mask for a spa beauty costume. Cost: Single use from a tube of face mask.

Another year, her daughter was a flower girl in a wedding, so Danger paired the dress with a tiara for a princess costume. Cost: Between $4-$10 for a tiara on Amazon.com.

Janis Elspas, mommy blogger and social media strategist, also looks around her home for inspiration. "Use every day things you have at home rather than buying," she says. "Put flour in your hair to make it grey and use regular women's cosmetics for face makeup."

If your child doesn't like anything around the house, Danger recommends another cheap costume option: a bunch of grapes. For about $2, you can buy a pack of purple or green balloons. Find a matching purple or green shirt and use safety pins to attach blown up balloons to the outfit. If you want, you can add some green vine from an art store and call the costume a grape vine. It's a fun and easy DIY costume.

Brew Your Own Potions

For a more dramatic look, you can use everyday ingredients from your pantry to make your own face paint. Danger has a great recipe:

First mix together the cornstarch and flour. Then add corn syrup and water, and mix until it's smooth. Separate the concoction into paper cups and use food coloring to create the shades you need to turn your child into a witch or a clown.

Cast Temporary Spells

If you want to be frugal and green -- and you don't want to sew -- Danger recommends an easy solution. All you need is craft felt and a plain T-shirt. Glue black spots on a white shirt for a dalmatian costume, black stripes on a yellow shirt for a bumblebee, or black spots on a red shirt for a ladybug.

The best part is, school glue is washable. Throw the costume in the washing machine when you're done and the shirt will come out of the laundry back to normal.

When my daughter was three, my wife picked up a pattern for a clown outfit in the fabric department of the local store. She bought the material and made the clown outfit complete with a hat. The first four or five years the costume had to be tucked in. The last four or five years it was way to short, the sleeves ended just below the elbow and the pants ended just below the knee.

It just became my daughters thing to wear the same costume year after year after year.

Can we say $ dollars store. My two nephews, niece and I love Halloween. So I use what I already have plus maybe $20 dollars at the $ store. For instanced my oldest nephew is going as a bloody doctor. We got a green doctors shirt ($1), then blooded it up with fake blood ($1), and then we got a fake knife ($1) and painted it with red nail polish and some of that fake blood ($1). That’s a total of $4. My other nephew is going as a zombie. We will dress him in his own paints and a white long-sleeved shirt that we already had (free) then we will wrap him in a couple of packs of blood gauze ($4) and paint his face white ($1) and then maybe a little red fake blood. That’s a total of $5. My Niece is going as a werewolf cute girl (no werewolf mask). Skirt ($1). shirt, purple tights and boots that we already own (free). Head band with ears ($1), make up that we own (free) and some fake vampire teeth ($1). That’s a total of $3. Myself I’m going as a vampire zombie. Black skirt and white button up shirt that I will dirty by soaking it up with tea and maybe some dirt (free). Black tights that I will rip up ($1).using my own make up (free). Some fake blood ($1) and vampire teeth ($1). That’s a total of $3. That just shows you that with a little imagination and knowhow you can dress 4 people up for under $20 dollars and everything was bought at the $dollar store.

Oh my gooodness,,,ive read a lot of articles here and have never replied but couldnt help doing it today...I cant beleive some of you guys that are replying so NEGATIVELY....if you dont like the suggestions then dont use them for YOUR KIDS...why criticize....thats so adolescent. She was sharing HER ideas, for THOSE WHO WANT THEM. And as for her wearing a premade costume Joe....if you paid attention...she had on a regular black dress PROBABLY RIGHT OUT OF HER CLOSET AS SHE SUGGESTED.....and a bought witch hat....and for the person who commented about a mother not loving their child enough to purchase a costume rather than make them a spa princess...if you know ANYTHING about kids most of them appreciate the parent helping the parent come up with a costume right from home,,,and with their own fun things they like already! You guys should be nicer people...its a video article and as with anything if you dont like it dont apply it!

Have you ever actually GOT food dyes on your skin? It stains for weeks. Ridiculous idea making your own face paints, I have seen the results and it looked horrible as well as the kids said it felt gross. As a scientist we used to use it for marking water voles we were tracking as the patch stained their fur for 10 days! Stick to proper face paints- I wouldn't go any cheaper than snazaroo.

When my son was very young I made him a tee shirt with empty cereal boxes hot glued to it and stuck a lot of plastic knives in them, secured with glue.....his costume? A cereal killer. Of course he had to have his face painted, a job his mother handled.

one other thing, have you looked at the cost of food coloring? It is far more expensive than the face paints/coloring that you can buy for $1.00 in any dollar store across the country. Corn syrup isn't so cheap eitehr so you are actually spending more money to make it than it would be to buy it.

Might be a good and inexpensive way to make your own face paint using food color for the coloring agent however I hope all of you realize that food color stains your skin so if you use face paint made with green food coloring your child is going to have a green face for some time to come, or a purple face or blue face, etc.